It's been four years since cancer stole her father's life, but Donna Parisi still grieves like it was yesterday. The 17-year-old feels as hollow as a corpse, so empty that she can't move on, can't fully engage in her life, can't even enjoy her last year of high school. Her mother and older brother seem to be getting on with their lives, so why can't she?

When Donna attends the viewing of a dead classmate at Brighton Brothers Funeral Home - the same place where her father's funeral was held - it brings back painful memories. It also brings an epiphany and, for the first time in a very long time, hope. The thought has never occurred to her before, but since she's so well-acquainted with grief, wouldn't she make a perfect mortician? Donna's so taken with the idea that she applies for a job at the Brightons' mortuary and, abandoning her half-baked plan to study Communications at the University of Dayton, decides to go to a local college for mortuary science. No one's too thrilled about the idea. Except Donna, who's finally glimpsing a light at the end of her long, dark tunnel of pain.

Using her own experiences to help others gives Donna a new strength, something she'll need to deal with her family's disappointment, her mother's new boyfriend, and her own budding guy trouble. As she marches forward, embracing the world around her with confident resolve, she'll finally learn to say goodbye to her father. And hello to life.

Putting Makeup on Dead People, a debut novel by writing coach Jen Violi, is a strange little book. I want to call it a sweet, quirky, life-affirming novel because that's what it is. Mostly. It just gets weird in spots. Not because of the dead thing - that part is handled with appropriate respect - but because of oddly graphic scenes with Donna's idiot boyfriend and not graphic, but equally odd scenes with a girl on whom she seems to have a little girl-crush. Both of those things detracted from the sweetness of the book, although not the overall poignancy. Although I shed a few tears over the ending, the finale didn't move me enough to negate those weird little moments that kind of ruined the book for me. In the end, I liked the book enough to finish it, but not enough to give it above a C grade.

(Readalikes: Um, I can't really think of anything. Can you?)

Grade: C

If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for strong language (a handful of F-words, plus milder invectives), sexual content, and depictions of underrage drinking

To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Putting Makeup on Dead People from the generous folks at Disney/Hyperion. Thank you!

With water levels rising and a pack of feral dogs loose in the park, Lucy begins to wonder if she can stay in the relative safety of her camp. But where else can she go? The answer comes from an unlikely source - a teenage boy who's been lurking around Lucy's home. She hasn't seen another person in months and doesn't know if she can trust 17-year-old Aidan. His talk of a peaceful commune of survivors living on what was once Wards Island sounds far-fetched. When an incoming tsunami leaves Lucy no choice but to run, she heads to Aidan's haven, a place full of answers and more questions.

When a Sweeper raid devastates the tiny settlement, kidnapping children and infecting adults with the plague, Lucy's anger boils into scorching fury. Tired of lies, tired of unanswerable questions, tired of her hardscrabble existence, she vows to find out what's behind the Sweepers' confounding actions. It's a risky quest, one that will likely be more dangerous than anything she's faced so far. With two companions she's not quite sure she can trust, Lucy marches into enemy territory. She's survived so much already - will this, finally, be the end of her? In a ruined city where nothing ever goes the way it should, one girl risks it all to save a dying world, a vanishing race, and the motley crew that's come to mean everything to her.

In her atmospheric debut novel, Ashes, Ashes, Jo Treggiari introduces an eerie dystopian New York City (just look at that cover!). The desolate, gritty setting portends danger and, thus, grand, survivalist adventure. Does it deliver? Not exactly. I think it lost its edge a little once Lucy follows Aidan. From there, it gets predictable, often thriving on coincidence and crazy, half-baked plans that would never really work. On the plus side, I loved the setting. Treggiari's descriptions of the ruined city helped me see it - probably a little too clearly. It's also a clean, fast-moving story that kept me entertained despite the plot holes, underdeveloped characters, and the romance that grew too fast to convince me. According to the author's website, sequels may be in the works. Would I read them? why yes, I believe I would.

(Readalikes: Reminds me a teensy bit of Exodus by Julie Bertagna)

Grade: C

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for intense scenes

To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Ashes, Ashes from the generous folks at Scholastic. Thank you!